The making of ‘Kibakinomics’

By MORRIS ARON and TIMOTHY MACHI

He was once a carpenter. Then he tried his hands at the exacting masonry.  When all was not enough to take care of the bills, he even had a stint as a tout in the defunct Othaya African Bus Union fleets.

From Mwai Kibaki’s early experience in the tiny mud hut they shared as a family to the sore nights in an uncomfortable wooden bed only made a little comfy with hay in boarding school, the capitalist in him emerged — resolved and steeled.

In the early school of ‘hard knocks,’ Kibaki picked one vital lesson that endures to date — that to make a living, one must work hard.

This thinking is the very epitome of Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations that forms the basis of modern economics.

Kibaki graduated from Makerere University with a First Class BA degree in Economics, History and Political Science.

He earned a scholarship to the prestigious London School of Economics where he graduated top of the class with in MSc in Public Finance.

Those looking at explaining Kibaki’s legacy say with such credentials, there was no denying he was destined for great stuff.

But now as Kibaki readies to retire from politics as Head of State, economists will be posing the hard questions. What exactly is Kibaki’s economic legacy? Was it all worth the effort?
Boiling Kibaki’s economic philosophy down to bare essentials, James Shikwati, Director of the Inter Region Economic Network, described him as Adam Smith’s half-hearted disciple.

Wild consumerism
“While they both placed a premium on hard work, Kibaki  as President presided over the growth in wild consumerism, credit taking and huge deficits — contrary to Smith’s school of thought,” says Shikwati.

In his book, The Wealth of Nations, Smith challenged people and nations to practice not just hard work and enlightened self-interest but also thrift.

Under Kibaki’s regime, however, Kenyans have witnessed more empty grain stores at both national and village level,” Shikwati, described by Wikipedia as a libertarian economist, says.

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